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With recent ‘merger memories’ still top of mind, Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition (KLHC) members are alarmed over the future of Ross Memorial Hospital after reading the public notice about new special legislation initiated by Ross near the same time as the passing of the PC’s omnibus Bill 74.

KLHC formed soon after the Lindsay Advocate released a feature analysis last year that showed mergers rarely work out well for the smaller hospital, usually leading to less services offered, and nor do they work well as a cost-saving exercise. A huge community outcry followed and KLHC and its supporters were able to blunt the momentum toward any merger.

More than $620,000 in funding has been lost to the City of Kawartha Lakes for licensed childcare spaces due to cuts from the provincial PC government.

Within that pot, nearly $258,000 was for general allocation funding. This money is used for child care fee subsidies for low-income families and general operating costs.

The remaining amount, more than $360,000 is being eliminated through cost sharing changes. In what was once a 100 per cent boost from the Province, it is now a forced 80-20 cost-sharing agreement between Province and Municipality. This includes reductions in the administration allowances (from 10 per cent down to 5 per cent).

A small but determined group of concerned citizens braved the cold and very wet weather yesterday and gathered at MPP Laurie Scott’s constituency office to protest the litany of cuts to public funding by the Ford government.

The event in Lindsay was part of a 25 city ‘General Strike’, which grew out of an effort by a Hamilton woman to host an event in that city. Of the 35-40 people who showed up about 18 were from Haliburton County.

The widespread cuts to education by the PC government will mean millions of dollars will be lost to the Trillium Lakelands District School Board. However, Director of Education, Larry Hope, says a highly regarded construction program at LCVI can’t solely be blamed on the PC government.

Among other cuts, the board is facing:

a $423,000 shortfall for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs).

a $526,000 drop in board funding because of new classroom caps for Grades 4-8.

a $3.8 million shortfall as secondary class sizes balloon from 22 to 28 students as a cap

The Ontario government will provide “more than $1 billion dollars in 2019-20 to help sustain, repair and grow community housing and help end homelessness,” according to a press release from local MPP Laurie Scott.

The government has also revealed the province’s new Community Housing Renewal Strategy, outlining its plan to “transform a fragmented and inefficient system into one that is more streamlined, sustainable and ready to help people who need it most.”

With over 100 residents who came to the Bill 74 Town Meeting on March 27, the Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition members and residents are growing concerned with the impacts of Bill 74.

This new legislation is being pushed through the legislature quickly, notes a press release, with an expected passage on April 10, just one day before budget day. As there is a PC majority, this bill will pass and the KLHC says it is prepared to fight the implementation of this massive restructuring of our health care system.

Executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, Natalie Mehra, released a statement regarding the public hearings at the Standing Committee on Social Policy this morning.

Today MPP Laurie Scott announced the Ontario government is investing in Highway 35 restoration projects to improve road safety in the northern Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton. The restoration projects will include culvert upgrades, and rehabilitation of the Gull River bridge in Moore Falls.

This funding is part of a $1.3 billion investment in transportation projects announced by Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation. These projects will help create jobs for Ontario’s construction industry and help keep our highways reliable so that our province has a transportation network that encourages job creation, investment and trade in every region of the province.

The Advocate has learned that the four participants in the province’s basic income pilot project are seeking $200 million in general damages. To that end, they have filed a multi-million class-action lawsuit against the Ford government over its early cancellation of the project.

The lawsuit, filed with the court in Lindsay, alleges the government breached its contract with the pilot project’s 4,000 participants in the communities of Lindsay, Thunder Bay and Hamilton. The plaintiffs also claim the government was negligent and breached its undertaking and common law duties in deciding to cancel the project only one year into its three-year term.

As expected, four people from Lindsay who had been receiving payments through the Ontario Basic Income Pilot have launched a proposed class action against the PC government for its premature cancellation.

The three-year OBIP began in 2017, with international eyes on it as among the most comprehensive pilots in the world, but the current government cancelled it in 2018, before gathering its own follow-up information from participants.

The applicants are Dana Bowman, Grace Marie Doyle Hillion, Susan Lindsay, and Tracey Mechefske, all from Lindsay. A statement of claim was filed today by the Toronto law firm of Cavalluzzo LLP. The firm is “dedicated to social advocacy and the protection of working people.”

From the Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition On April 18 this year The Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) posted a notice in … More

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The Lindsay Advocate is an online news magazine for Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, focused on the social and economic wellness of the town. While we cover most aspects of community life, we have a particular interest in poverty reduction.